Flash-back: Christmas in Austria, Volume 1 (Innsbruck)

As the mercury edges over 90 degrees here in Sofia, I thought it would be a good time for a flash-back post, from a far, far colder time -- like Christmas in Austria. We have so many pictures and stories to tell from adventures this year that we haven't yet had a chance to write about. We wrote about our misadventures getting to Austria already, but didn't have a chance to show some good pictures of the nicer parts of that trip once we actually got there.

When we finally arrived in Innsbruck, we were cold. Really, really cold. And exhausted. Standing-outside-in-the-cold-all-night-on-a-train-platform cold and exhausted. We were thrilled to be in the storybook old town of Innsbruck, but it was still cold, and the main things to do were 1) go skiing (cold) or 2) wander around the cute outdoor Christmas market (still cold). We never motivated to go skiing, but we did wander around the markets and pick up some lovely souvenirs. We also went to the Alpine Zoo, halfway up the mountain outside of town. Oddly enough, due to the oddities of temperature inversions, it was much warmer there than in town. We also sadly never were able to connect with our friends Meghan and Justin (and cute baby Orla), who were part of the reason we had gone to Austria in the first place. Oh well...life happens. Here are some pics, in no particular order.


Swarovski Crystal has their headquarters not far from Innsbruck, and they maintain a very cool display store in the old town, complete with cellar-level crystal wonderland with lots of decorative things not for sale. There are lots and lots of really pretty, painfully expensive things there. Here is a crystal flower, that I'm pretty sure cost more than our car.

Grey morning in Innsbruck. No snow, but damp and blustery.

View overlooking the old town square from the clock tower at city hall, with Christmas Market booths below.


We like to put the FUN in "funicular." View from the funicular station near the AlpenZoo, looking over Innsbruck. You can see that there is not any snow in town. We were left dreaming of a white Christmas.
Bobcat at the AlpenZoo. Rawr.
Piglets at the Alpenzoo. Not terribly mountain-themed, but c'mon! Look at how cute those little porkers are!

Morning Alpenglow on the Alps, from the street in front of our hotel. It didn't stay that sunny, but it was nice while it lasted.
Above: The river Inn, with snow-covered peaks behind. The name "Innsbruck" means "bridge over the river Inn". So now you know.

Artisan making glass snow-flakes. She had very nice work. We bought lots.

Self-portrait while shopping at the Christmas market. Check out my new WARM multicolored hat!

Below: Gluhwein: spiced red wine, served hot from a kettle to warm you on a chilly December eve. Ambiance: excellent. Taste: unpleasant.

Below: There were giant dolls from various fairy-tales set up in the old town around the Christmas Market, which were at times both whimsical and a bit creepy. I don't know what fairy tales most of them were from, because my German wasn't good enough. Click HERE to link to part 2 of this post, about our time in Salzburg.